The mentally disabled man who allegedly cut the throat of a University of Colorado student on the first day of classes will undergo a state-administered psychiatric evaluation for competency, a Boulder County judge ruled this afternoon.

Kenton Astin, 39, a former cashier at the university’s cafeteria, faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault with a deadly weapon after police say he slashed the throat of 17-year-old Michael Knorps on Aug. 27 in front of the University Memorial Center on the CU-Boulder campus.

Prosecuting attorney Bruce Langer requested that Judge John Stavely order the state evaluation after Astin’s attorney, Michael Connell, submitted a summary report of a private psychiatric evaluation this morning that questioned Astin’s ability to stand trial.

“The defense council has raised questions regarding competency,” Stavely said. “But an accurate ruling cannot be made from a summary report with less than two hours to review it.”

According to court records, Astin faced similar charges of attempted first-degree murder in 2001 — as well as possession of a controlled substance, assault and felony menacing — after he allegedly attacked a man with a knife at a Salvation Army in Longmont.

Astin was found not guilty by reason of insanity on all charges and was released from a state mental hospital in Pueblo in October 2005 after successfully completing treatment.

Astin is being held at the state hospital in Pueblo on the latest charges and did not appear in court today.

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